Update on the Update Wirral Faulty Conductor plate

[Teflon]

Well as it turns out MB Wirral were not far of the mark when they talked about the TCU being married to the car. It seems that the 722.9 7G Tronic is paired to the car and only very recently have MB been pressured into
releasing the control plate and valve body to indies. This still means that MB are charging an arm and a leg for the part, the cheapest quote I've had to date is £900+ this includes new filter and fluid ect.

There may however be an alternative. I have discovered that there are companies who can rebuild the control plate with a new valve body for around £250. It involves you removing the plate then sending it to them for repair.
They claim because the TCU is left intact and undisturbed no re-programming is necessary and it's a simple matter of re-installing. However because I do not have the facilities to undertake that job myself it means that I now have to find a garage who are willing to remove it then re-install. That coupled with the fact that I would then have to buy the trans fluid plus gasket and filters etc may mean that for me personally I wouldn't be saving that much. I'm also pretty sure that no garage would touch a 3rd
party re-built part anyway.

So really I'm posting this because it may help someone else down the line who has the facilities and the competence to do the job themselves. Here is the links to an informative page on the 722.9 7G as well as the link for the company who does the rebuild.
Mercedes – 722.9 7G-Tronic Valve Body & Conductor Plate – Must Read – MB Medic

7G-Tronic transmission - TCM conductor plate failure

Mercedes 7 speed transmission ECU (722.9 gearbox) is a common failure to cause gear selection problems, test and rebuild of your 7G-Tronic ECU

www.ecutesting.com

Hope everyone has a great weekend.

 

[zipdip]

Well as you have found out there are a number of companies offering to repair your electro plate,many on here have had this done,what usually happens if the car owner is not able to do the work themselves is that the car goes into a local indy and they will remove the electro plate and use one of the repaair companies to effect a repair,my local indy will do this but always puts the mercedes cars up on very high axle stands as they cannot efford to have a lift taken up by a car that might well be there for a week.
Cost well £500 normally covers it,as you have stated the repaired unit can go straight back into the gearbox and will function,if a new plate was bought then it would need to be programmed to the car,with any luck you should not have any more bother from the auto box after repair,but a ATF oil change every 20,000 miles can only help to avert it happening again.

 

[Teflon]

Well as you have found out there are a number of companies offering to repair your electro plate,many on here have had this done,what usually happens if the car owner is not able to do the work themselves is that the car goes into a local indy and they will remove the electro plate and use one of the repaair companies to effect a repair,my local indy will do this but always puts the mercedes cars up on very high axle stands as they cannot efford to have a lift taken up by a car that might well be there for a week.
Cost well £500 normally covers it,as you have stated the repaired unit can go straight back into the gearbox and will function,if a new plate was bought then it would need to be programmed to the car,with any luck you should not have any more bother from the auto box after repair,but a ATF oil change every 20,000 miles can only help to avert it happening again.

I'd happily pay £500 for that... Unfortunately the indies in my area didn't even mention this (There are 4) and what I have learned took hours of googling.. All the indies I spoke to seemed intent on using official MB channels...
If you know of someone who used an indie within 50 miles of the Wirral I'd dearly like to hear from them.

 

[Aletank]

Try MB-Tech in Warrington www.mercedesservicingwarrington.co.uk
They sent a ECU off for repair a while back for a mate and refitted it etc

 

[Teflon]

Try MB-Tech in Warrington www.mercedesservicingwarrington.co.uk
They sent a ECU off for repair a while back for a mate and refitted it etc

Thanks for the info. Its great to know that at least some indies are repairing them.

 

[Aletank]

Thanks for the info. Its great to know that at least some indies are repairing them.

It was a few years back now, it was on an original A-Class, my mate researched where to send it, possibly the ECU Doctor in Plymouth, he let Shane at MB-Tech know the information etc and MB-Tech removed, packaged it up and sent it off for repair etc.
I see there's a ECU doctor in Widnes now (different company)
Edit - ECU Testing was the company that done the repair, MB-Tech fitted etc

 

[Aletank]

Here's the original thread - A190 ECU Failed | Electronics and Audio

 

[Teflon]

Here's the original thread - A190 ECU Failed | Electronics and Audio

Yep, I'd been in touch with ECU testing earlier this week, they asked for the fault codes before saying if they could repair it, fortunately my fault codes relate to faulty solenoids so it's repairable they say... I emailed MB-Tech earlier asking if they can do it with that in mind... I also emailed an independent at Hoylake Wirral with all this info... Now I have to wait and see what the response is..

 

[Aletank]

Probably best to give them a phone call tomorrow

 

[Teflon]

Probably best to give them a phone call tomorrow

I did call them today but alas they are not prepared to deal with anyone other than official MB channels and want a 4 figure sum for doing so.

 

[Teflon]

This is proving to be a nightmare, all the independent's I've spoken to or been in touch with all want to send the faulty unit to MB for repair and charge a 4 figure sum for doing so.

MB Wirral who I spoke to again today, in light of ECU Testings quote of a repair cost of £250, would not back down from a total repair cost of £1000. As far as I can tell from the instructional videos it's less than an hours job to remove the control plate and less than an hour to refit... So with the Trannie fluid ect lets say 3hrs labour plus £100 costs. When I pointed out that their first quote of a £1000 was for a MB repair they backtracked a bit and were adamant that was the cost of ANY repair to an auto transmission... My Advice avoid MB Wirral.

I'm beginning to think that even indies see the 722.9 transmission as a cash cow and are more than happy to rip folk off.

 

[Aletank]

If you've tried the Wirral/Birkenhead Indies, maybe give these a call
www.liverpoolbavarian.com
www.malmarmotors.co.uk
Both use Mercedes STAR diagnosis